How COVID-19 Changes Our Economic Mode And Promotes Future Opportunities
COVID-19 changes industry mode and promotes future economic development
It is not all bad news. People should seek breakthroughs in national economy and directions of future development from such an emergency as a long-sighted planner.
Fiji has tried many kinds of industries to keep economic development since its founding and we call them “pillar industry”.
Just like the legs of Tanoa, we had several industries that we are proud of like clothing manufacture, sugar-cane, fishery industry and tourism.
However, for various reasons, sometimes the decision of the government is the most important part. These industries gradually lose their lead.
When COVID-19 came, tourism which contributed 47 per cent of GDP collapsed, and we suddenly found, the other legs were too weak to keep the country standing.
This is not the moment to complain yet.
The global economic crisis has not met the worst.
It is an urgency issue that the government and people should consider how to get through this severe economic shock, possibly as never before in history.
Some Chinese Fijians and Chinese companies give us sufficient inspiration.
One of the leaders of the Chinese community, Justice of the Peace, Liu Feng said, most Chinese Fijians and immigrants from China engaged in trade, catering, retail, agriculture and service.
Apart from agriculture, the other industries almost stopped all the business during “lock down time”. The businessmen and employees suffered huge economic losses.
Factors
Affected by factors like market shrink and airport closure, the economy of the Chinese community has also faced severe tests like the overall economy in Fiji.
Many people and companies began to develop new operation ways and control the cost.
Some famous Chinese restaurants in Suva like Yuelai Restaurant and Venice Restaurant gradually tried take-out business.
They set up chat groups in WeChat, Facebook and other platforms and people can reserve food online or by telephone.
This way it not only reduces direct contact from customers, but also supplies more positions for local staff.
Although the epidemic has gradually disappeared in Fiji, take-out business is more and more welcomed by customers.
General manager Sunny Zhao from Yuelai Restaurant said that the restaurant would launch a new take-out service in the future to make people enjoy food at home.
In the case of stagnation in the tourism industry, some companies did not waste their time. Denies Hong, General manager of Blue
Ocean travel agency, said that during the epidemic time, they conducted business training and encouraged tour guides to go out and find more attractions and cultural tourism projects for customers.
The culture of Fiji is unique, employees are busy in the normal time, they don’t have time to study and understand what is the real Fijian culture.
So they reduced working hours for this opportunity and offered training lessons for the preparation of tourism’s recovery for the future.
Denies said they will try their best to keep their employees stay because they also have family commitment.
The agency is planning to promote Fiji’s tourism by using “Tiktok” and other applications to let Chinese tourists come to Fiji travelling and shopping when the epidemic is recovering.
From offline to online, this is a decision that will bring both losses and new opportunities.
In 2014, Chinese Media Fiji Limited launched e-newspapers through WeChat and other platforms, accumulating more than 5000 subscriptions.
During the outbreak, the paper media suffered a great blow.
Due to the forced closure of the distributor’s shops and other reasons, all the printed Chinese newspapers were transferred to online distribution.
Although this has reduced the revenue generated by the sale of newspapers, the full way advertising provided online has brought more companies interested in cooperation.
Digitalisation
E-newspapers have gained three to five times more reading than traditional newspapers.
Chinese Media Fiji Limited also launched the “Voice of South Pacific” news app in time, providing convenience for more users.
Liu Feng who is the chairman of the company said: “This is also in response to the Fijian government’s promotion of digital Fiji . “Digitalisation can bring more technological innovation to the media industry, and it can also serve the public more easily.
“Compared with paper media, digital media is faster and more informative. We also have plans to strengthen co-operation with Fiji Sun’s excellent app.
“No matter how remote the residents are, as long as they have smartphones, they can learn about the news of Fiji and the world. “Under the situation that the whole world suffers from the disconnection of trade chains, we should be more deeply aware of the need for agriculture in the pillar industries of our country.
Agriculture is the foundation of all the economic behaviors of the country and the guarantee of national survival.
Faced with the poverty of villagers in recent years, Naidiri village actively cooperates with the South Pacific Island Countries Institute of Asian Studies SPICIAS .
Trying to learn from China through the development of village level enterprises and then through the development of agriculture to achieve the goal of targeted poverty alleviation.
Trade
On the premise that China’s trade with Australia and the United States has declined substantially, Fiji has also been provided with a broader market
As an island country in the South Pacific, Fiji should take this opportunity to make its internal workflow more efficient. And we need to look forward to a new market and opportunities.
This is a difficult time, but difficulties will make our team more powerful and stronger. It is hoped that in the near future, Fiji will return to its former happiness and prosperity